Customer Reviews

Secret Splendor (Silhouette Classics)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Arden's son Joey is gravely ill. When her ne'er do well husband Ron, a gynecologist who has run her father's clinic into near bankruptcy due to his gambling addiction suggests that her acting as a surrogate for a wealthy couple could solve all their financial problems, she balks at first. By morning, has a change of heart, provided her husband will grant her a divorce. After Joey dies, she's inconsolable, and decides to check into the child she gave away nearly two years earlier.

Matt is a happy toddler who lives in Maui with his widowed father Alex, a famous tennis star. Arden just happens to meet Alex. Soon the two are embarking on an affair, which eventually leads to marriage. Alex never divulges that Matt had a surrogate mother, and Arden, despite many opportunities, is never honest about her role in Matt's life. Their idyllic life just seems too good to be true. As she falls deeper in love with her new husband, Ron reemerges, and blackmails her - seems he still has a gambling problem. She'll do anything to keep her new family, even pay a man she loathes.

Despite its new packaging, this is a "vintage" romance novel, penned pre-Baby M in 1983... and it shows. Perhaps the story line was groundbreaking back in 1983; in 2006, it's laughable. Arden lacks a backbone which is a core characteristic prevalent in so many early Sandra Brown heroines. Stick with her later titles for engaging storytelling.

I loved this book! I found it quite accidentally, but as soon as I started reading it, the story was all consuming. I understood where Arden's heart was. All she wanted was the comfort in knowing that her "secret" son was happy and healthy. I really felt that the "secret" she was keeping from Drew was the only thing that kept her from falling head over heals.....she never anticipated falling for him. When their love finally happened, it was everything that is should have been. The end of the book was as it should have been....with the love of two people overcoming all the pain. If I had the money, I would buy the rights to this book, because it would make an EXCELLANT movie !!!

I liked this one. I mean sure, it was a bit slow, and yes, I did get kind of frustrated with Arden and her efforts to keep her secret, but all in all it was a nice read. Not a real page turned, but I enjoyed it none the less. I would recommend it for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Of all her books, this is my favorite Sandra Brown. The characters were real and believable and the story holds you from beginning to end. The heroine is a woman who loses a child and out of grief goes searching for the one she gave up for adoption several years ago. What she finds is a widowed father with problems of his own. He is a sexy tennis player who is fighting his way back from hell after the death of his wife and his battle with alcoholism. After meeting, they fall in love and then he finds out who she is and believes it was all just a ploy to get to his child...they have to learn if they can build something after so many lies are told. The pain is so intense, the feelings so deep, I got goosebumps reading this story. It felt so real.

This story is a very strange one. The copyright is 1983, so it was written before all of the surrogate moms and stalking stories. If you take that into account, then it's a good read, but still very bizarre.

The main female character, Arden Gentry, comes across as weak and spineless. The reader feels sorry for her since she lost her son, Joey. But then the reader feels as if she needs to check into a psychiatric facility when she becomes obsessed on finding the child she gave up at birth because of an overbearing, horrible husband that she finally gets the nerve to divorce. My opinion of the divorce was that it came too late to prevent permanent emotional damage to Arden, but that remains to be seen. Arden sets out to find the child she gave up and the father of that child.

I personally didn't like A SECRET SPLENDOR. I'm sure it was supposed to be sweet and show the caring side of a mother who can't forget the child she gave up. Instead it came across as a woman who is obsessive and compulsive, besides being very competent at lying. Someone who schemes to be a part of the child's life again doesn't deserve to live happily-ever-after. That should be reserved for someone who is honest!

I love Sandra Brown books! But I found that this one took to long to reach climax. I wouldn't say that the book was awful - but she has wrote better.

A sexy romance, with an inventive and unusual plot. Romance writers had a lot more freedom to be original in the early days of category; this is Sandra at her daring and passionate best.

While I thought this story was a little long-winded. I enjoyed the plot of the story. Arden who agrees to acts a surrogate mother to a famous couple out of desperation. Seeks to find the baby she gave up after her son dies. While I found Arden to be manipulative you can't help but like the book anyway.

I loved this book! It was so heartfelt and sexy. It really makes you appreciate love. I love Sandra's books and this was one was one of her best!! Thanks Sandra for such a sweet story.

I have read a lot of Mrs. Brown's books but this has proven to be her best! It is such a loving and overwhelming story that will take your breath away. I just could not put the book down. The romance and deep love between Drew and Arden are incredibily well described and, as always, Mrs. Brown proves to be the best in describing love scenes. I highly recommend it. For me, this is definitely her best book!